Les aventuriers du Far-West

The opening bugle call, the 20-mule team hauling the borax wagons out of the desert, The Old Ranger introducing the story and Rosemary DeCamp doing the commercials could only mean one thing, another episode of "Death Valley Days" was on the air. Where are all those episodes today?

This Series was quite popular for many years. They used a rather strange approach to production, taking a cast and crew to a location (ie: Flagstaff) and shooting 3 episodes to be split up during the season. It was the quintiessential American western of the time. Sometimes quite good, sometimes very very bad. Wish the episodes were still about somewhere.

This is one of the few early Western shows that was more accurate about depicting actual Indians and Mexicans in a much more favorable light. Too many of it's contemporary westerns created and perpetuated stereotypes that are still believed to this day. No it's not completely accurate, but it's much more authentic the most series were at the time. It's 60 years on am I still enjoy itbecause it does show that people can be good even when times are bad.

Looks like I can't post a photo. I have one of an old Swede who drove a 20 mule team in Death Valley in the 1890s. I met him in 1963.

I remember watching "Death Valley Days" back in the sixties on Saturday afternoons with my father and my five brothers. I have only recently begun watching the program as I can now receive it on the Western Encore Channel on cable. I really appreciate this show because it a western that features more than just cowboys & Indians. There are plenty of episodes that focus upon prospectors, missionaries, newspaper reporters, teachers, naturalists, telegraph operators and mail deliverer. The action takes primarily in San Francisco and the state of California but the viewer is has taken to the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. It is always fun to spot the actors on the show who were on their way up or down in Hollywood. I even saw a very young Clint Eastwood on an episode just recently.